Disclaimer: If it was mine, I'd probably be rich by now. The way things currently are, I'm lucky to have enough money to pay the heating bills.
As the Wind Blows
by Silversides
Prologue: Prelude to Destiny
To be completely fair, it wasn't all her fault. Really. If that stupid, stupid Prince hadn't been in her way, everything might've turned out all right. Maybe she would have completed her training and become a knight of the Good as had always been her plan...
Alanna of Trebond shook her head, rendering short, cropped red hair more mussed than ever. She smoothed it impatiently with a firm hand, as if to control the nervousness that didn't show on her exterior.
Abruptly, the Laughing Duke emerged from the roomin front of her, his trademark smirk on his face. Alanna bowed, despite herself awed and fearful. The Laughing Duke was no laughing matter, as cliché as that might sound.
"Rise, General," the Laughing Duke said, although she could see that he was pleased with her recall of protocol in front of their guest. Even if she didn't know who it was, it never hurt to be showy, in case that was the way the wind was currently blowing. "We have with us an ambassador from the Northern Shore, to talk over peace. I believe you may already know him."
With that cryptic remark, he stepped out of the doorway, allowing their guest to step in. If the man was surprised to see her here, he didn't show it.
Alanna, to her credit, showed no outward signs of discomfort, but her mind had just gone into overload concerning the person in front of her. Brown hair, more grey than she ever remembered; brown eyes, their twinkle dulled but not yet gone-
"General Alanna." His voice was cold as he kissed the air over her hand. "What a pleasant surprise."
And yet Gareth of Naxen, a knight now, if she remembered correctly, did not seem surprised to see her at all.
"Come now, the rest of my advisors await," The Laughing Duke said, and Alanna could have sworn that he was laughing at her discomfort.
The Duke strode off down the stone halls, his elegant cloak sweeping gracefully behind; he was now flanked by the guards that had so loudly protested him going in to meet the ambassador alone. The Ambassador was several steps behind them, infrequently shooting Alanna cold, hard glares, and Alanna herself was last, obsidian dress armor not making a sound thanks to the spells that had been carefully placed upon it.
The odd procession stopped at the conference hall, and the Laughing Duke motioned them all inside before taking inside himself and taking his own plush seat at the head of the long mahogany table.
"And now that we are all together," Duke Roger of Conté, the Laughing Duke, said as he flashed his trademark grin about the table, "We may begin."
A/N:
Just a teaser for you. Should I continue?